While most other fighters will spend the hours before this weekend’s UFC 309 blockbuster at Madison Square Garden relaxing, hydrating, eating well or watching movies, Brazilian lightweight contender Charles Oliveira will be glued to the races.
The horses to be specific.
The 35-year-old is a racing fanatic who rides, races, breeds and watches horses whenever he can.
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Speaking to the 34-10 veteran at the Hilton Hotel in New York, it’s clear his passion for the ponies might even outstrip Aussie hero Jack Jenkins, who wanted his own racehorse, Epimelles, on his fight shorts earlier this year.
“I love it, I’m in love with this thing – you don’t understand,” Oliveira says, his voice quickening and his eyes lighting up.
“I’m a fighter who loves to race horses. Fighting is where I get my payday, and where I provide for my family.
“But riding horses is what I love.
“I race them, breed them, everything. I’m around horses all the time.
“I love them.”
Oliveira fights Michael Chandler in a five-round lightweight number one contender bout in this weekend’s co-main event to Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title fight.
He has to refer to a mate when asked how many horses he owns.
“Ahhhh, I have four horses in Argentina,” he says, counting them off on the fingers of his hand. “They all race like crazy.
“They’re awesome.
“Actually there are races on Saturday, same day as my fight.
“So it will be crazy, I’ll be watching races on Saturday morning before my fight.”
Oliveira was even supposed to take part in a race in Australia last year before other commitments postponed the engagement.
But he still wants to saddle up Down Under.
“I was really excited about that opportunity, and it’s still going to happen,” he said. “But, when the boss (Dana White) calls, you have to do these things for the UFC.
“Because of the UFC engagement we couldn’t do it.
“But, listen, we’re back into talks and it’s something I want to do.”
Oliveira was also at the centre of a major sliding doors moment in Australian MMA last year.
The Brazilian was supposed to fight Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, but was forced out due to a terrible cut on his head.
That left Alex Volkanovski to step in on just 11 days’ notice, with the Aussie getting knocked out in the first round.
The Aussie returned just four months later, but lost his featherweight title and his spot atop the pound-for-pound rankings in another knockout loss to Ilia Topuria.
Oliviera hasn’t had anything to do with Volkanovski since then, but says the Wollongong local earned a massive payday for the late-notice loss.
“It’s really hard to judge somebody else,” Oliveira says of Volkanovski’s risky approach. “It could happen either way.
“No one is silly here, you have to be ready and take the fight. There’s a lot of money at stake.
“So it’s very hard for me to judge the decision because anything can happen.”
Volkanovski is eyeing up a rematch with Topuria later in 2025, but there has been speculation he could take on rapidly rising featherweight star Diego Lopes.
“I think it’s a fight between two great people, two great fighters, two people with a real thirst for winning,” Oliveira says of a potential Volkanovski-Lopes match-up.
“Anything can happen.
“But Diego is coming up and when push comes to shove I would go Diego.”
As for his high-stakes showdown with Chandler at UFC 309 this weekend, Oliveira says it will go the same way as their first encounter in 2021.
Back then, with the lightweight belt on the line, Chandler exploded from the opening bell, and nearly stopped Oliveira late in the first round, before ‘Do Bronx’ knocked ‘Iron Michael’ out in the second.
“I don’t think things are going to change,” OIiveira says. “He’s going to be really aggressive, he’s going to go at it and charge forward.
“He isn’t going to change who he is. I do not want to walk backwards.
“I want to push forwards too and connect that hand because I believe in my firepower.”
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